LG set to launch smartphone powered by own Odin CPU

LG is apparently ready to launch a new mid-range smartphone that will be powered by the company’s own Odin processor.

We last reported on LG’s efforts to eschew chips from Qualcomm, Intel, and Nvidia in favour of its own Odin standard back in November of last year.

Now, CNET cites “sources familiar with the matter” in claiming that the first Odin-powered smartphone could launch as early as this week.

Apparently, the phone will be an LG G3 derivative rather than a new flagship phone, as the company wishes to initiate a “test run” of its new SoC. LG has been working on the new chip for some time now, but has apparently struggled with overheating and power-consumption issues.

LG’s Odin chip will be based on an ARM Coretex-A15 architecture, and will support a big.LITTLE configuration. This means that the chip can switch between four high-power Cortex-A15s and four energy-sipping Cortex-A7s according to how demanding the task at hand is.

Samsung has adopted a similar model for its own Exynos chips.

With Apple, Samsung, and now LG making their own SoCs, MediaTek providing a number of low-powered chips, and Nvidia returning with the impressive K1 that powers the Nexus 9, it seems as if the mobile chip market will be more fractured than ever over the coming years.

Qualcomm probably won’t have things quite so completely its own way as it has in recent times.

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